PALEOGEOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF THE JAPANESE ISLANDS IN THE NEOGENE

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The aim of the present research is to clarify the tectonic deformation of the Japanese Islands in the Neogene time and to figure out the paleogeographic evolution as consequence of the deformation.Essentially, the deformation of the island was expressed by a rotation of clockwise of the southwestern Honshu Island and that of counter- clockwise of the northeastern part as inferred from paleomagnetic study, which was originated by the opening of the Japan Sea. But the tectonic rotations are found to have undergone more complex movements, for example, at the peripheral parts of the Japanese islands such as the Hokkaido and the Kyushu islands rotated differently from the rotations of the southwestern and the northeastern blocks of the Honshu Island. Although a two-years research project seems to be too short to clarify such a complex tectonic deformation of the Japanese islands in the Neogene, the outline of the tectonic deformation in the Neogene becomes more clear over the whole Japanese islands.Present research group has been playing the role of the Japanese Working Group of IGCP(International Geological Correlation Program)-246 project. As an activity of the Working Group, we had a special session on "Pacific and global Neogene events (IGCP 246)" on 25, August, 1992, at the International Geological Congress (IGC) held in Kyoto. The session was very successful with the attendance of many scientists from the world.